Wanted Dead or Alive
by damfangirl
Summary: Bounty hunter Emma Swan is on a mission to kill Regina Mills without explanation or proof of the accusations thrown at her. After a long and tiring search for Regina's criminal record, Emma turns up blank. Swan decides it best to confront the woman herself, but when she did, she never expected the 'criminal' to be quite so attractive. Emma was ordered to shoot her down. SwanQueenAU
1. The Woman

Shipping prompt: Character A is a hit man assigned to kill Character B. Character A changes their mind.

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><p>Name: Swan, Emma<p>

Special Field: Bounty Hunter

Mission: Track down Ms. Regina Mills. Shoot to kill.

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><p>One moment Emma was on a top-secret assignment to kill where no one else would, and before she knew it, she let her guard down.<p>

Emma Swan was a bounty hunter, meant to track people undercover for the most part, but this was a special task that was thrust upon her. Regina Mills, accused for murder, has been spotted in Boston and her employers want her… dead.

Finding Ms. Mills was the easiest part for Agent Swan, it was her specialty after all. But this time was different, this time she was ordered to capture _and_ kill the target. Usually she focused solely on the former, but she had been assigned for the latter many times as well. Emma wasn't fond of killing, even when she had every right and reason to do so. She always, without fail, tried her very best to convince her superiors that capture and time behind bars would do it, and she usually won. This time was quite different.

Emma Swan had indeed located her target, but she was still looking for a reason the pull the trigger. She had searched every article of information on Regina Mills and came up blank. The real cause as to why Ms. Mills was to be killed was nowhere, there was _no_ reason!

Finally, as Emma flopped back down on the bed in her work-provided apartment, she gave up. No, Emma would not give in to murdering Regina Mills without proof, but she also knew that there was no proof. She had checked every FBI record, every CIA document, and every article ever on this woman, but they simply weren't there. Sure, they had her name, age, address, the basics, but no criminal records.

This was when Agent Swan decided it was time to interfere. She practically leaped off of the stiff bed and towards her closet. If she was to confront this woman, she needed a specific look. A look that screamed both friendliness _and_ power, comforting _and_ intimidating. In the end, Emma picked out an outfit that was simple yet informative; her darkest pair of denim, skin-tight jeans, a plain white tank top and her favorite red blazer, and since it was early fall with decently warm temperatures, she pushed her blazer sleeves up for a touch of personality.

Emma grabbed her phone on her way out of her small apartment to check and headed out into the fall afternoon.

As she walked down the street, Emma Swan realized that she wasn't entirely sure where she was headed. Taking out her phone, Emma checked her tracker that she hacked into the software and was currently set for anything 'Regina Mills.'

Seemingly all at once, Emma noted that the miniscule, blinking, blue dot was practically right on top of her steady red arrow and simultaneously, she crashed into a stranger in the street whilst neither parties were paying attention. The duo tumbled onto the sidewalk.

With Agent Swan's disguised, muscular build, she seemed to recover just in time to glare across at the stranger she had ungracefully knocked off her feet. It was the woman‒ Ms. Regina Mills, and all Emma could do was gaze at the stunning elegance of the woman. Photographs couldn't even begin to capture the natural beauty of this magnificent creature before her.

Shaking her head out of her thoughts, Emma found herself regretfully remembering her mission, _she's your target, Emma. Be professional._ The blonde steadied herself onto her feet and stalked confidently towards the brunette.

"I'm so sorry for knocking you over," Emma held out her hand in an offer to help Ms. Mills to her feet. "I'm Emma, by the way," the words slipped out of her mouth before she could even form a coherent thought. _Damn, Emma, you're not a schoolgirl with a crush, you're a grown woman!_

Emma's hazel eyes peered downward just in time to see cold, russet-brown eyes flicker to a softer brown that more so resembled melted chocolate upon seeing who her accidental attacker was. Regina Mills took Emma Swan's outstretched hand and between the two of them, the brunette was safely pulled to her feet.

In all of the brunette's coal black, power-suit glory, all she said was, "Regina Mills," with her tone matching perfectly to her formal, business-like outlook.


	2. Café Confessions

_"Regina Mills"_

When Regina woke up this morning and headed out to her newly deemed 'favorite' café, she certainly didn't expect to fall head over heels, both literally and figuratively, to the blonde on the sidewalk. She has been proven entirely wrong.

Since the two retrieved their footing, neither has bothered to break their slightly too-close stance or unclasp their hands that were held in between them. As the lion and the lamb's breaths mingled, Emma found herself speaking again without her notice. "Would you like to head to the café around the corner?" Emma asked. "Maybe I'll be able to make it up to for that." _I may be also be able to find out why in the hell I've been ordered to kill you._

"On one condition," Regina stated. Emma cocked her head as an inquiry so that Regina would continue. "We go to Granny's."

"Fair enough," Emma deemed as she cocked her head in the direction that she knew the café was. Obviously Emma Swan was already going to head to Granny's. As a hit man she needed to know the whereabouts of her target and _Granny's_ happened to be where Regina Mills spent most of her mornings.

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><p>The pair arrived at the aforementioned quaint little café and sat themselves at Regina's favoured. Before the silence could even become awkward, a waitress bounded over, seeming ecstatic to take their orders. As much as a surprise the brunette waitress was to Emma Swan, this was absolutely routine for the normal life of Regina Mills.<p>

"Regina!" the waitress greeted, _Ruby_ as her name tag read. "Would you like your usual?" Regina politely nodded her head and Ruby turned towards Emma with a blinding smile. "How about you? What would you like on this beautiful day?"

"Hmm..." Emma pondered, obviously unknowing the menu at the café. "Do you serve hot cocoa?" she asked hopefully.

"Indeed we do!" Ruby replied. "Any special toppings on that?"

"Yeah actually, I'd love to have some cinnamon on top, please."

"Not a problem," the waitress pronounced. "I'll be along with your orders shortly," and without another second to waste, Ruby had taken off like a graceful tornado.

Emma Swan and Regina Mills were left alone again, and so the silence grew between them. The lack of words being said wasn't exactly uncomfortable but it definitely had a tension, increased by the many questions hanging in the air.

Regina, surprisingly, is the first to break the silence, "What do you do for a living, Ms. Swan?"

To any regular person in any normal situation, this would be a relatively easy question, but not now, not for Emma. What could she say, really? _Oh, I'm a bounty hunter currently on a mission to assassinate you._ No, it just wasn't going to work, so she stretched the truth. "I work for the police," the hit man lied, "I'm sort of like a sheriff but it's _quite _complicated. Anyways, what about yourself?"

"I'm a businesswomen," she replied with ease, then smoothly added, "I work alongside the mayor for the most part. I don't remember seeing your name anywhere as sheriff."

"It's more of a private thing with the federal government," Emma hesitantly responded. Damn, Regina was smart. If the conversation continued like this, she would know all about Emma's job, including her past on the other side of the bars.

Thankfully, though, Ruby arrived just in time to cut the chat short. She laid down a hot cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon down in front of the blonde and what appeared to be a black coffee down for her acquaintance. _Ew, _was all the bounty hunter thought.

Noticing the new acquaintance's look of disgust directed towards her mug, "It's not like my drink will rot my teeth, unlike that," Regina retorted, glaring at the mug in front of the 'sheriff'.

Caught up in the moment, Agent Swan blurted out the one thing that has been on her mind since she sat down, "At least _I_ don't have people sent to _kill me_!" _Oh shit._


	3. This Indescribable Feeling

**_AN: I'm trying to post a new chapter every 3 days or so but please review! Suggestions on what should happen next and some constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. _**

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><p><em>"At least <em>I _don't have people sent to _kill me_!__"  
><em>

Emma's eyes went wide the second she blurted that out without thinking, she had dug a mighty fine hole for herself this time. Across the table, Regina was just as shocked as the hit woman, possibly even more. There was an eerie silence between the two as they were both lost for words until Regina broke it, through a mixture of fear (which she dared not show but Emma could see in her eyes anyways), rage, and, most of all, astonishment.

"_What?! Who _are you, exactly? What do you know?" Regina said in a stern but hushed voice that Emma hasn't heard since foster care. Emma visibly flinched at the thought. Suddenly the businesswoman's eyes softened considerably, she leaned in and whispered, "Why?" This last word contained a moment of vulnerability for the brunette which Regina quickly sensed and leaned back into her seat in the booth and straightened up.

If Emma was completely and utterly honest with herself, the first instinct she had was to run, but she knew she couldn't deny the answers to the captivating woman before her.

"I'm a bounty hunter," Emma stated. "My current mission, however, is to find a Ms. Regina Mills and shoot to kill on sight."

The target in question stared at the agent like she was speaking another language. "So why haven't you killed me yet? When did you find me?" Regina inquired, trying desperately to keep the frantic pace that her heart was beating out of her voice.

"I found you about 10 days ago but I can't kill innocent people, it's a personal oath. Anyways I've searched for about 2 weeks through every record in existence and you have nothing on your criminal record that would be justified with assassination," Emma spoke calmly, knowing she couldn't mess up this explanation to this stunning woman. She owed her that much. "Therefore, either you cover your tracks impeccably well, or this is a personal vendetta against my employer."

The way the blonde voiced that last question it was almost like a question that Regina felt obligated to answer. "As a businesswoman, I'm sure I've made quite the few enemies and rivals. A personal vendetta would be the more likely option, seeing as how I haven't any criminal record to tamper with. I hate technology, anyways," the woman declared. Regina masked her face from emotion and took up her best regal, superior voice, to appear as unaffected as possible.

"Exactly. Like I said, I've looked through every FBI record, CIA document, and other article to so much as mention your name and... nothing. Besides basic information, you're practically invisible."

"Are you going to kill me?" Regina asked gingerly. Both women avoided the other's gaze, both in fear of the answer.

During Emma's hesitation, a million thoughts ran through the blonde's head. _I don't want to, but what if she has a serious criminal record and has been lying to me the whole time?_ She finally rose her eyes to study the stunning woman in front of her. _Goddamn she's gorgeous, how could I have never met her before now? Oh wait, question, right..._

"...No," Emma said determinedly after only a moment's pause, but the businesswoman still noticed.

Not even a second after the word had left Emma's ‒oh so gorgeous‒ mouth, Regina had piped up again. "You hesitated," she accused and they both knew it.

"I know, I know But the truth is: I only just really met you, I've been assigned to kill you over a week ago and I can't bring myself to do it. I am only a bail bonds-person but when it rises to the occasion, I have been ordered to kill, and I have. Yes, I'd always fight for information to help the 'criminal', since I was in that situation once, too, but 7 days was the longest. With you, I don't know, you're just too great to disappear from the world, your life is too important. It makes absolutely no sense but I can't help it‒"

"I know," Regina cut Emma off from her rambling speech. "I've known you for all of about 20 minutes and I feel it, too. It's odd to say the least but..." The woman who never faltered, the evil queen of business, couldn't find the right words to say. Maybe the right words didn't exist; maybe this feeling couldn't be described.


	4. Forbidden Knowledge

**AN: Sorry for the late update, no excuse. I realized that I was being really passive and boring in the last chapter, using it more as a filler than anything else, but I tried to get some action going in this one. Hope you like it! Reviews are welcome and ideas for future chapters will be cherished!**

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><p><em>Maybe the right words didn't exist; maybe this feeling couldn't be described.<em>

Emma Swan and Regina Mills continued to meet up every couple of days to check up on each other. Or that's what they told themselves, anyways. Between the two of them, they couldn't hide their blatant feelings for each other. They knew they couldn't be together but they, as well as anyone graced with their presence, could almost reach out and touch the chemistry of tension that occupied the space surrounding them.

The pair often shared a booth at Granny's or strolled through the streets of Boston, but as the cold weather set in, they found themselves bumping into each other at their favourite café diner more and more. Within Copley Square, Emma had found an untouched area surrounded by trees and dragged one of the park benches into the site. They now claimed it as 'their spot' and took their breakfasts there on the bearable fall days.

Unbeknownst to Regina, the bounty hunter still had her Regina-tracker (which she renamed _The Matchmaker _in her head), she was still researching the gorgeous woman when she had a moment to spare, and she was still getting messages from her employers. The messages started out annoyed with Emma, accusing her of not being good enough at what she does but lately they've changed course to a much more threatening tone.

The blonde's searches began to become frantic, she needed to know everything about the innocent brunette, or else her employer, Robin Hood, would give her a bad name for the rest of her career. And that's when she found it. Bail bonds-person Emma Swan had found the one piece of information that would destroy the mission once and for all.

This particular piece of information wasn't in any FBI record, CIA document, or other professional article. No, this was a harmless Facebook post for the happy couple. This is what it read: Happy Anniversary to the soul mates! Guess I didn't do too bad as matchmaker for this one! Anyways, have a spectacular 3rd anniversary, Regina and Robin! Lots of love, Tink.

_You're shitting me, _Emma thought to herself. This one tiny piece of information explained everything; why Regina's online footprint was so small, why she had no clue what she did or how to use the internet, and why her _employer_ was aggravatingly persistent. The only question it still didn't answer was why Regina's husband would want her dead so badly to fake all this in the first place.

Emma knew she had to get on top of the situation; now that she'd been given a rope to hold onto, she just needed to climb. And so Ms. Swan called _Mrs. Hood_.

"_Hello?" _greeted Regina on the other end of the phone. She sounded kind of groggy, which was unusual for Regina but Emma continued anyways.

"Hey, Regina. It's me, Emma. Where are you?" she asked, full of a new found excitement and urgency. Emma could have just used _The Matchmaker_ but it seemed highly inappropriate against a married woman.

"_Emma? It's‒ 3 AM, I'm in bed, you idiot," _Regina really couldn't sound annoyed at Emma even though those hazel eyes lead to the sometimes most infuriating woman to ever walk the earth. _She didn't really _walk _the earth,_ Regina then thought, _She conquered the ground she walked on but kept it a secret between herself and the soil._

_Shit, what if Robin Hood was sleeping right next to her? _Emma had to know if Regina was alone or not, so she dove head first. "Are you... with anyone? Or can you talk for a moment?" she asked cautiously.

"_My husband is sound to the world right next to me," _Regina replied, but then continued on, "_Honestly, Emma what do you want?"_

Emma panicked, hopefully Robin really was out like a light. "Meet me at Granny's for dinner tomorrow, my treat," Emma rushed. She needed time to sleep on it and figure out how to tell Regina, and since the news was going to be pretty devastating, paying was the least she could do.

"_See you at 7 PM, Emma," _Regina replied, lazily. Neither of the women could wipe the blissful smiles off of their faces, both unaware that Robin had secretly heard the entire exchange of words.


	5. Date Night Drama

**AN: Early updates and a long chapter! My mind is racing about this story and I have the next bit vaguely planned out. Review if you want to get your thoughts on what should happen in. This is the shit-gets-real chapter and I sort of ended on a cliffhanger so sorry (not really). I'm a pretty shitty writer so please help a girl out hahah. After this story I have some one-shots in mind but first I need to figure out how long this story is going to be! Basically, I have nothing planned out!**

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><p>As Regina got ready for her date, she could feel her husband's questioning gaze focused on her, but he remained quiet, deep in thought. Finally, he broke the silence, "Where are you going that you're getting so dressed up for?" he questioned, already knowing the answer.<p>

"Business meeting over dinner," Regina lied confidently and casually.

Robin Hood knew that he could bust his wife right here, right now, but if his suspicions were correct, he could wait just 30 minutes longer and confront his wife on a date with his worker, Emma Swan. "Ah," he said, short and sweet. He was definitely going to have fun with this.

15 minutes later, once his wife had left the house, he sprinted upstairs to get ready. Robin, being the clever man he was, had a plan to turn the tables on his failed 'true love' and employee. Mr. Hood had arrange for his ex-wife, Marian, to go on a 'date' with him. Marian completely rejected him at first _how dare he?_ but once he explained his ulterior motive, she jumped aboard. _Anything for Regina to feel the hurt she felt._

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><p>Emma knew that she didn't say this was a date but it technically was, and since she was sure that Regina would be dressed up (Regina loved a good excuse to get dress her best), Emma actually put on a dress. Emma didn't own very many dresses and it was too late now to go dress shopping so it had to do. This dress was a tight, red dress with wide straps and reached just above her knees. Emma was also known to be very bad at accessorizing to she simply curled her hair, put on her swan necklace that rarely came off, and grabbed her black clutch-like purse.<p>

Emma left the apartment and arrived in front of Granny's 5 minutes later. _I'm 5 minutes early, well that's a first,_ but the blonde had sense enough to know that Regina was probably already in there.

The moment that Emma locked eyes with Regina across the diner, she couldn't help herself from looking the woman up and down. She was a goddess in the hell of news Emma carried on her shoulders but suddenly that dissipated when Emma saw this woman across the diner.

"As beautiful as you look," Emma started off as she reached their table, "I still have bad news that needs to be discussed." She hated the look of sorrow that flashed in Regina's eyes before she could mask her face. Regina just nodded and gestured for her hit man to take a seat.

"It's about my boss. If I assumed correctly, you know him pretty well..." Although Emma spent the whole day trying to figure out how to phrase this right, she only learned that it was going to be painful either way. "My employer's name in Robin Hood."

Shock. That's the only emotion Regina showed at the news, but if Emma looked hard enough she could also see a bit of confusion, amplified by Regina's question. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? And I thought you said you were done stalking the internet for me? What if Robin‒"

Regina couldn't finish her interrogation because this was the moment Robin Hood decided to enter the diner with Marian on his hip. He looked up and scanned the room for Emma and Regina, locking eyes with the latter. Robin leaned down to whisper something in Marian's ear and she nodded. The pair of them strode over to the Gunner-Target duo.

"Fancy meeting you two here. Emma, I see you've gotten a bit off track with your assignment, she really is a sight, isn't she? And Regina, nice to see you always have your strange albeit working methods to act in your favour. So, how many dates has it been, how long have you been cheating on me with my employee?"

"Robin, we just came here to discuss something that popped up," well that was the subtle way of putting it. Then the thought occurred to her, "Why are you here anyways, with her nonetheless?" Regina knew that Robin and Marian had ended badly but why in God's name would Marian even tolerate him for a minute after their fallout?

"_Business meeting over diner,_" he replied, making a clear point to quote Regina's earlier words. "Really? I could practically feel your smile in the air when Emma asked you out this morning and who gets this dressed up for a meeting, eh?"

Regina was left speechless, because as much as she wished this was a date with the beautiful blonde before her, she was married to her fake soul mate. Emma sat quietly across the table with her hand buried in her purse. She could tell by the moment Robin got here that he had something big planned for tonight.

Robin then reached behind his back and whipped out the .357 Magnum handgun he had concealed in his waistband underneath his dress coat. He didn't have time to blink an eye before Emma's grip tightened around her Desert Eagle pistol and had him looking down the barrel.

Robin then pointed his gun to the right, aiming at his wife, Regina. He wasn't blind, he could see the connection between the pair. "You shoot me, I shoot her," he stated.


	6. A Prodigy and An Idiot with Guns

**AN: I know I'm super late getting chapters up but school is hectic. I'm currently posting this at 3AM so I have no clue how many mistakes are in this or even if it makes a lick of sense. Enjoy!**

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><p><em>"You shoot me, I shoot her," he stated.<em>

Truthfully, Emma wasn't going to blow Robin Hood's brains out. She was going to get her point across, one way or another, and if that meant threatening Regina's husband to stop changing the subject and to just answer the damn questions, then a gun would do the trick.

Meanwhile, Regina was more than slightly insulted that she was playing the role of the damsel in distress when she was obviously the most intelligent life-form in the diner. "Emma, Robin‒" she began but was cut off by Emma.

"Regina, I know you probably hate not having any control in this situation but for your own safety, please, please, please leave. We can talk about it later but we won't be able to if you get hurt here," Emma begged.

The fully trained bail bonds-person glanced over at Regina and all Robin could do was scoff at her incompetent mistake. Of course he tried to take advantage of this slip-up by redirecting his gun at the so-called 'best bounty hunter in north-eastern USA'. Little did he know, this was all a part of Emma's plan and with no gun was pointed at Regina so an accidental misfire wouldn't hit the brunette, Emma whipped around and disarmed the brooding man.

Agent Emma Swan took complete control over the situation and now had two guns pointed at Robin Hood. "Now," Regina established, tired of being the bystander, "You're going to tell us why you wanted me, _your wife,_ killed and why you were so eager for this undergo as soon as possible, hmm?"

"H- how about we, um, talk about this in a, uh, civilized manner with no guns?" Hood feigned innocence and defeat. The two women in front of him had no idea what the one next to him, the long forgotten Marian, had in store for her arch nemesis, Ms. Mills. _She didn't even have the heart to change her last name after marrying Robin! _

"Nope, sorry mister but you had your chance. Get out of my sight," Emma demanded. She felt all-powerful with two guns pointed and her favourite person at her side, well besides her son, Henry, of course, but he was at safe and sound at his private boarding school. For now though, she was in control and she would abuse her power to get this _imbecile_ out of her and Regina's faces.

The commanding power didn't last long though when Marian, who honestly, Emma had forgotten about, moves like lightning. Marian flicked out a knife from her thigh holster and, instead of stabbing the person with the two guns, jabbed for Regina. The bounty hunter's instincts kicked into gear and the adrenaline coursing through her veins willed her to pull the trigger, but her brain told her to shoot somewhere not deadly. So she shot Marian in the thigh where that damn knife came from.

Regina and Marian both screamed in pain. At this point, the few people who were in the diner in the beginning had either scrambled out or hid under their tables. _Shit. Regina's hurt._ Swan quickly knocked Hood out without a second thought and rushed to Regina's side.

Regina was clutching her chest, just below her heart. The blade was left in, which was a good sign and it was also quite possible that no organs or major veins were punctured. She still needed to go to the hospital.

"Stay with me, Regina, it's going to be okay. Just please keep your eyes open, okay dear?" Emma begged. She could _not _have Regina passing out on her now.

"Talk to me, keep me distracted," Regina whimpered weakly, "Tell me about your life." Emma stared at the brunette, covering her would and applying the proper amount of pressure.

"Yeah, yeah sure," Emma stuttered. "Someone dial 911!" she shouted across the diner first and say Granny doing just that in her peripheral vision. "I was found on the side of a highway the day I was born, wrapped in a blanket that had my name on it. My entire childhood was game of hopscotch from foster home to foster home until I was 15. That's when my last foster home kicked me out and I decided to run away. I met a guy named Neal when I was 16 and a year later I was pregnant and in Juvenile prison. I was let out 9 months later, when my son Henry was born but I had to train and work as a bail bonds-person. Henry is 15 now and in a private boarding school so he can stay safe while I do my job. Since I was trained to be a bounty hunter so early, I'm good at what I do. I usually work in the big cities like New York and Boston. And that's basically my life story," Emma concluded.

Regina's eyes were still open by the time the woman leaning over her was finished, but they were still getting heavy. Before she gave in to the seductive pull of darkness, the ambulances came and the injured women were loaded into the vehicles. The drivers tried to force Emma to stay away and not get in with Regina, since the agent was still carrying two guns. Emma Swan was having none of it though and shoved the guns in her purse while hopping aboard, passed the workers.


End file.
